Control apparatus for cotton gins



June 3, 1941- E. H. BROOKS CONTROL APPARATUS FOR COTTON GINS Filed July 24, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I O-o o IN VEN TOR YEUGE'NE" h. BPoons ATTORNEY: n *M June 3, 1941- E. H. BROOKS CONTROL APPARATUS on COTTON'GINS Filed July 24, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR' EQGENE M BR mm A TTOR'NEYS Patented June 3, 1941 CONTROL APPARATUS FOR COTTON GINS Eugene H. Brooks, Dallas, Tex., assignor to Gentinental Gin Company, a corporation of Delawar e Application July 24, 1939, Serial No. 286,139

Claims.

My invention relates to means for indicating and controlling the density of the roll in the roll box of a cotton gin, and has for some of its objects the provision of means in the roll box movable responsive to variations in density of the roll and adjustable means yieldably to resist such movement, together with an indicator operable responsive to said movement for showing the relative density of the roll; to provide means for restraining movement of the movable means and at the same time to maintain the indicating means in operation; to provide an automatic control of the feed of cotton to the gin to maintain a substantially constant density of the roll; and to provide ready means for supplanting the automatic control and substituting manual control of the feed.

The density, that is, the hardness or the softness of the roll in the roll box of a gin, is determined by the quantity of cotton fed to the gin and the rate of ginning. The value or grade of the lint produced is greatly affected by the relative density of the roll; the softer the roll, the better the grade, and the harder the roll, the lower the grade. It is very important in the operation of a gin that sufficient density be maintained to properly clean the seed of lint, yet if the roll is allowed to become too dense, it may cause damage to the lint. In order to operate a conventional gin properly, it has heretofore been necessary for the operator to examine the roll from time to time by pressing his hand into the revolving mass and, judging from his experience, regulate the density of the roll for best results. This method of determining the density of the roll is not only inaccurate, but it is very hazardous on account of the placing of the hands of the operator in the vicinity of the revolving saws in the gin.

In accordance with my invention, I overcome the foregoing and other difiiculties by providing a movable cove piece in the gin forming the upper side of the roll chamber above the gin ribs and pivot it in such a manner that the pressure within the roll box may move the cove piece within predetermined limits. The movement of the cove piece, or wall ,of the roll box, resulting from the pressure of the roll, is transmitted by mechanism to be described later to an indicating means, comprising a scale or other suitable meter, to indicate the relative density of the roll. Means are also provided by which the movements of the cove piece are transmitted to the feed mechanism for the gin so as to maintain the density practically constant. There is also means provided by which the automatic feed may be rendered inoperative at will and manually controlled feed substituted therefor.

Apparatus embodying features of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this application, in which "Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation showing a cotton gin with my improved roll density controller applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view showing the cove piece and a part of the control mechanism attached thereto;

Fig, 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the other end of the cove piece with its attached control mechanism;

Fig; 4 is a detail sectional view taken along the line IVIV'of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a form of dash pot which may be employed with the metering device.

Referring to the drawings for a better understanding of my invention, I show a gin stand it) embodying a roll box 1!. Within the roll box are the usual gin ribs l2 and saw cylinder l3. Pivotally mounted above the ribs l2 at M is a cove piece Hi, against which the roll in the roll box presses in the operation of the gin. Connected to the upper part of the cove piece at each end thereof is an arm l! carrying a pivot pin it which protrudes through a slot H3 in the head of the roll box H. A link 2! connects the pin it to a rocker arm 22 rigidly connected to a shaft 23 extending from end to end through the gin stand. The weight of the cove piece and connected parts tending to pull the arms 22 downwardly is preferably counterbalanced by means of a weight 24 mounted on an arm 26 secured to the outer end of the shaft 23.

Also rigidly secured on the shaft 23 near the outer end thereof is an arm or beam 21. Secured to the beam 2'! is a metering device 28 of any suitable form, which, for the purpose of illustration, is shown as a well known spring scale which requires no detailed description. The scale is connected by means of a rigid rod 29 to a dash pot comprising a cylinder 3! having a piston 32 therein rigidly connected to the rod 29 and having a restricted orifice 33 extending therethrough. The cylinder 3! is secured to the beam 27 by means of screws 34 and may be filled with oil or other suitable liquid whereby to prevent vibration of the apparatus being transmitted through the rod 29 to the metering device 28, and yet permit it to give a correct indication of the force being measured. The outer end of the rod 29 is connected to a flexible member 36, such as a small chain or steel cable, and the latter is passed around and connected to a pulley 31 mounted to turn freely on a stub shaft 38 secured to the head 39 of the gin. An extension ti, integral with the pulley 31, is interposed between the pulley and the head of the gin and has connected thereto a collar 42 surrounding the shait 38. Connected to the extension 4| is an arm 43 having a Weight 44 adjustably mounted thereon. The arm 43 is so disposed that when the cove piece I6 is in its mid position, the arm is hanging downwardly at an angle of approximately 45 to the horizontal.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the pressure of the roll in the roll box of the gin acting against the cove piece I6 and through the arm ll, links 2!, and rocker arms 22, tends to rotate the shaft 23 with the arm 2'! counterclockwise, as viewed in Figs. 2 and 3. The force thus exerted is transmitted through the flexible member 36 to the pulley 31 and is resisted by the weighted arm 43, the metering device 28 indicating the force exerted on the cove piece, which is a function of the pressure of the roll in the roll box. -As the pulley 3'! is rotated, raising the weighted arm 43, it moves toward the horizontal with respect to the shaft 38 and increases the force required to rotate the pulley. By moving the weight d4 farther out on the arm 43, the force required to rotate the pulley is increased and, by regulating the feed as hereinafter described, the density of the roll may be increased.

Mounted on the head 39 of the gin, adjacent the shaft 38, is a bracket 46 carrying a set screw ll which, when tightened down against the extension ll locks the extension with the weighted arm t3 against rotation. There is also mounted on the outer end .of the arm 21 by means of a thumb screw 48, a stop member 49 which may be swung downwardly to the dotted position shown in Fig. 3 to bear against the extension'l and hold the arm 21 against downward movement with respect to the extension 4|. A set screw Si is embodied in the stop member t9, whereby it may be set with the desired clearance with. respect to the extension 4|. This setting should be such that there is no pull on the flexible member 36 when there is a very soft roll or no roll in th gin stand.

Cotton is fed to the gin ID from a cleaning and feeding apparatus indicated diagrammatically at 52. The rate of feed through the apparatus 52 is regulated by means of control mechanism of any well known design, indicated diagrammatically at 53, and which requires no detailed description. A control rod 54 leads to the control mechanism 53 from the gin Ill, and it is understood that, in the form indicated, when the rod is moved upwardly, the rate of feed increases, and when moved downwardly, it decreases. One example of a control operating in this manner is disclosed in Wear Patent No. 1,208,423, issued December 12, 1916. The lower end of the rod 54 is pivotally connected at 56 to a disk member 51 having a manually operable handle 58 connected thereto. The disk 51 bears against a similar disk 59. A bolt Bl, carrying a compres sion spring 82, passes through the two disks and holds them in relatively tight frictional engagement. The disk 59 is formed on the outer end of an arm 63 mounted rigidly on the outer end of the shaft 23 opposite to the end on which the metering device 28 is mounted.

By reference to Fig. 2, it will be seen that as the pressure of the roll on the cove piece l6 increases sufiiciently to efiect counter-clockwise rotation of the shaft 23, the control rod 54 is pulled downwardly, reducing the rate of feed to the cleaning and feeding apparatus 52 and thence to the gin. Upon a decrease of density in the roll, and consequent decrease of pressure against the cove piece 16, the weighted arm 43, acting through the flexible member 3t and arm 21, efiects clockwise rotation of the shaft 23, which causes an upward movement of the control rod 54, increasing the rate of feed to the gin, as just described. It will thus be seen that by setting the weight 44 on the arm 43 to afford the desired resistance to movement of the cove piece It, the density of the roll may be automatically controlled for the best operating results. Moving the weight 44 toward the shaft 38 on the arm 43 reduces the resistance to rotation of the pulley 31, and consequently a lighter pressure and less density of the roll will effect movement of the cove piece in a direction to reduce the rat of feed to the gin, while moving the weight 44 outwardly on the arm 43 increases the resistance to rotation and a greater force is required to effect movement of the cove piece It, thus automatically increasing the density of the roll by allowing more cotton to be fed to the gin.

It will be seen that as the weighted arm 43 moves upward toward the horizontal from its mid position of 45, its efiective length as a lever resisting movement of the cove piece I6 is increased, and as it moves downward from mid position, its eifective length is decreased in accordance with the law of the pendulum. When the weighted arm is hanging straight down and there is little or no cotton in the roll box, the rate of feed is at its maximum and a slight increase in pressure in the roll box produces the maximiun effect on the feed by reason of the minimum resistance offeredby the weighted arm 43. When the arm 43 is in its extreme upward or horizontal position, the resistance to movement .of the cove piece is at the maximum, and a greater variation in density of the roll is required to vary the rate of feed to the gin. The resistance to movement of the cove piece l6 offered by the weighted arm 43 accordingly varies with the position of the arm and with the density of the roll. When the roll is least dense the arm 43 offers the least resistance per unit .of movement of the cove piece It. And when the roll is at its maximum density the arm 43 oifers its maximum resistance to movement, and there is minimum variation of feed.

The arm 2'! and cable 36 acting on the pulley 31 multiplies the movements of the cove piece l6 transmitted to the weighted arm 43, and causes the weighted arm 43 to travel through a much wider range of movement than. if it were directly connected to the cove piece it. It will be seen that the arm 43 is free to oscillate from a downwardly pendant position upwardly to the horizontal. The multiplication of movement of the cove piece l6 and the positioning of the weighted arm 43 at 45 when in mid position, as previously described, in combination with the automatic feed control, thus form important features of my invention and afford a very accurate control of the density of the roll in the roll box.

Should it be desired to control the feed manually, the pulley 31 is locked against rotation by means of the set screw 4'! and the stop 48 is swung downwardly to limit downward movement of the associated end of the arm 21. The arm 21 is still free to exert a pull on the flexible member 3'? and the metering device 28 accordingly still indicates the force exerted against the cove piece l6 by the roll in the roll box, and thus indicates the relative density of the roll. The feed to the gin is then regulated manually by means of the manually controlled arm 58 by which th disk 57 may be rotatably moved with respect to the disk 59, and set the control rod 54 to the proper position to feed the cotton to the gin in an amount to afford the desired density.

My invention has been illustrated and described in connection with a gin for seed cotton, but it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the operation would be the same when used with a linter gin. I also wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to persons skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. In a control apparatus for cotton gins, a roll box having a section mounted for movement responsive to pressure of th roll thereagainst, variable means to resist movement of the movable section, means to transmit movements of the movable section to the resisting means whereby the latter is given a movement of greater magnitude than the movable section, and means interposed between the resisting means and the movable section to indicate the force exerted by the roll in effecting movement of the movable section.

2. In feed control apparatus for cotton gins, a roll box, a section in the roll box against which the roll presses and adapted to move and control the rate of feed responsive to pressure of the roll, a shaft mounted to oscillate responsive to movement of the movable section, means for variably resisting the oscillatory movement of the shaft, means to transmit movements of the movable section to the resisting means whereby the latter is given a movement of greater magnitude than the movable section, and a device interposed between the resisting means and the movabl section for indicating the force exerted in moving the movable section;

3. In feed control apparatus for cotton gins, a roll box having a section against which the roll presses and adapted to move and actuate the feed control means responsive to pressure of the roll thereagainst, a shaft adapted to oscillate responsive to movement of the movable section, a weighted arm for resisting movement of the shaft, and a device interposed between the movable section and the shaft for indicating the force exerted in oscillating the shaft.

4. In control apparatus for cotton gins, a roll box, a cove piece in the roll box against which the roll presses and disposed to move responsive to variations in density of the roll, a shaft connected to the cove piece to oscillate upon movement of the cove piece, a pivoted weighted arm for resisting oscillatory movement of the shaft, said arm being disposed at angle of aproximately 45 to the horizontal when the shaft is in mid position, means to vary the position of the weight on the arm, and a scale for measuring and indicating the force exerted by the cove piece in oscillating the shaft.

5. In control apparatus for cotton gins, a roll box, a cove piece in the roll box against which the roll presses and disposed to move responsive to variations in density of the roll, a shaft connected to the cove piece to oscillate upon movement of the cove piece, a scale for measuring and indicating the force required to oscillate the shaft, a pivoted weighted arm for resisting oscillatory movement of the shaft, a connection between the weighted arm and the scale, and dash pot means between the weighted arm and the scale to damp the transmission of vibration to the scale.

6. In control apparatus for cotton gins, a roll box, a cove piece in the roll box against which the roll presses and disposed to move responsive to variations in density of the roll, a shaft connected to the cove piece to oscillate upon movement of the cove piece, a pivoted weighted arm for resisting oscillatory movement of the shaft, means to vary the position of the weight on the arm, a scale for measuring and indicating the force exerted by the cove piece in oscillating the shaft, and counterbalance means for the cove piece and associated parts to correct the indications of the scale.

7. In a feed control apparatus for cotton gins, a roll box having a section against which the roll presses and which is adapted to move and actuate the feed control means responsive to pressure of the roll, means operatively connected to the movable section to resist a change in direction of movement thereof, means to transmit the movements of th movable section to the resisting means whereby the latter is given a movement of greater magnitude than the movable section, and a device to indicate the force exerted against the resisting means.

8. In feed control apparatus for cotton gins, a roll box having a section against which the roll presses and which is adapted to move and actuate feed control means responsive to pressure of the roll, means operatively connected to the movable section to resist a change in direction of movement thereof, means to transmit the movements of the section to the resisting means whereby the latter is given a movement of greater magnitude than the movable section, and a device interposed between the resisting means and the movable section to indicate the pressure thereagainst.

9. In feed control apparatus for cotton gins, a roll box, a section in the roll box against which the roll presses and which is adapted to move and actuate the feed control means responsive to pressure of the roll, an oscillatory inertia member operatively connected to the movable section to resist movement thereof, means to transmit movement of the movable section to the inertia member whereby the latter is given, a movement of greater magnitude than the movable section, and a device interposed between the inertia member and the movable section to indicate the pressure thereagainst.

10. In feed control apparatus for cotton gins, a roll box, a cove piece in the roll box against which the roll presses and movable responsive to variations in density of the roll to actuate the feed control means, a shaft operatively con nected to the cove piece to oscillate upon movement of the cove piece, means to indicate the force exerted against the cove piece by the roll, and a pivoted weighted arm for resisting oscillatory movement of the shaft disposed to hang downwardly at an angle of approximately 45 to the horizontal when in mid position.

EUGENE H. BRGOKS. 

